Umpire gives Nick Kyrgios pep talk after latest antics at US Open

By ADAM ZAGORIA

On-court coaching is prohibited at Grand Slam tournaments but that apparently didn’t stop umpire Mohamed Lahyani from giving notorious tanker Nick Kyrgios a pep talk on Thursday.

With Kyrgios not even attempting to return several serves by Pierre-Hugues Herbert during their second-round match and trailing 6-4, 3-0, Lahyani came down off his chair and gave Kyrgios a pep talk, telling him, “I’m trying to help you.”

Kyrgios said it’s not the first time an umpire has spoken to him about his actions being bad for the “integrity of the sport.”

“You know, the same thing happen to me, it’s happened in Shanghai before when we all know I had that moment in Shanghai where the referee said the same thing,” Kyrgios said after completing a 4-6, 7-6(6), 6-3, 6-0 comeback. “It’s not good for the integrity of the sport, doesn’t have a good look.”

Kyrgios said he doesn’t believe Lahyani’s talk had an effect on the match.

“If I was up a set and 3-0, and my opponent was getting that talk from Mohamed Lahyani, obviously an unbelievable tennis player, I wouldn’t care less,” he said. “I couldn’t care less. Obviously you know he’s achieved a lot in his tennis career. Mohamed, he had a big one.”

And here I thought they didn’t allow on-court coaching at Slams.

The heck is Lahyani doing giving a player a pep talk? #USOpen pic.twitter.com/0i0zwMaIe8

— Ben Rothenberg (@BenRothenberg) August 30, 2018

Here’s what led to the umpire telling him to try pic.twitter.com/dFia7Wvkug

— Eric Hubbs (@BarstoolHubbs) August 30, 2018

Lahyani’s behavior was immediately criticized.

“If I was the coach of Herbert, I would be absolutely furious” ESPN’s Darren Cahill said on air.

After Herbert won the first set, Kyrgios rebounded to win the match in four.

The US Open statement on the situation mentioned no punishment for Lahyani.

The @usopen statement on Kyrgios/Lahyani mentions no punishment pic.twitter.com/GTm94Jgtx3

— Adam Zagoria (@AdamZagoria) August 30, 2018

Kyrgios said on court that “[Herbert] let me back in that second set,” and downplayed the idea that Lahyani should be penalized.

“I don’t believe that he deserves it,” he said. “I mean, the umpire in Shanghai didn’t cop any backlash. It happened to me in Cincinnati two weeks ago against [Juan Martin] Del Potro, the exact same thing happened. I wasn’t putting forth my best performance.

“I did the same today. The umpire was like, Nick, you can’t be doing this. It’s a bad look. Same thing happened there. I’d be disappointed, yeah, for sure.”

Kyrgios will face five-time champion Roger Federer in the third round on Saturday after Federer topped Benoit Paire, 7-5, 6-4, 6-4.

“It’s always fun to play Roger,” Kyrgios said. “I’m looking forward to it. Obviously exciting, I have nothing to lose. But I’m going to go out there and compete my ass off.”

Said Federer: “I think we enjoy playing against each other. It’s a big challenge. He’s got one of the best serves in the game and he’s super-talented and he’s a nice guy off the court so I’m looking forward to the game.”

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